Cruisin' the world together

Kyoto Station To Nara



Nara Station

The next morning, we took the Shinkansen again and headed to Kyoto. After which, we transferred to a line that went to Nara. We rode to the first train that came and we only realized that the train we took was not a rapid as it stopped at every station. It took us more than an hour to reach Nara. It was very cold that day in Nara, maybe around 10 degrees Celsius. The Nara station was of wooden type style which was kind of rustic. The Nara Park is around 30 minutes by walking from the station. Walking to Nara Park is good as you will see and enjoy all the small shops that sell souvenirs, beauty products, clothes, tea, and also parlors and restaurants. Around Nara Park you will see many deers just roaming around.














NARA PARK

Albert had lots of fun with the deers. I told him that the deers were friendly. At first, he was too excited and he wanted to chase the deers.


Deers at Nara Park






NARA WITH THE DEERS



Kasuga Shrine
This important Shinto shrine was founded in 768 and is filled with over 3,000 bronze and stone lanterns.



Kofukuji
This temple has two pagodas, one of which is the second-highest in Japan. Many Buddhist statues and artworks are on display in the Treasure House.


Nara National Museum
Opened in 1895, this museum houses many pieces of Buddhist art plus temple artifacts and archaeological finds from local tombs and sutra mounds.




Todaiji
Founded when Nara was the capital, Todaiji was the head temple of all provincial temples in Japan. It is home to the largest Buddha statue in Japan, which weighs 250 tons.








Nara Street

The scenery around Nara Park is very pleasant. We had a simple lunch at Nara Park. Then we walked back to Nara Station and took a train back to Kyoto. At Kyoto we took JR train to the nearest station to castle. We walked around 1.5 km and sad to say we, they were already closed when we reached the entrance.






Kyoto Castle

We reached our hotel early. I packed our things as we needed to check out the next day and check in another hotel and in Tokyo.

Royal Park Inn Nagoya
3-27-5 MEIEKI NAKAMURA-KU
Nagoya 450-0002
Japan
Price Per Room Per Night : SGD188




Inside the Shinkansen Train



It was a long journey to Hiroshima from Nagoya. Although the two cities were more than 400 km apart, it only took 2 hours 20 mins for the Shinkansen. At Hiroshima Station, you could see many stalls selling “pasalubong”. We encountered many tourists around; Westerners around and old Japanese on group tour. From Hiroshima Station, we expected to reach Horoshima Castle for 30 mins walk (according to Google Maps). But it took as a little bit longer because we followed one group of Japanese seniors which was heading to Shukkeien, on the same way to A-dome. At the Shukkeien, we followed the group and didn’t realize that there was an entrance fee. After taking some pictures of the cherry blossoms, we quickly went out. We then walked to the Hiroshima Castle.



Inside Hiroshima Train Station


Hiroshima Train Station






City view of Hiroshima





Bicycle Parking







Shukkeien
Address: 2-11 Kami-nobori-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Tel: 082-221-3620
Access:
From JR Hiroshima Station
Walk 900 meters.
Take a Hiroshima bus bound for Asahi-machi or a Hiroden bus bound for Yokogawa Station, and get off at "Shukkeien Iriguchi".
Open Hours: From April to September, 9:00-18:00, From October to March, 9:00-17:00
Admission Fee:
Adults 250 yen
High school students or college / university students180 yen
Elementary or junior high school students 120 yen




Hiroshima Castle Gate







Hiroshima Castle Cherry Blossoms Trees















Hiroshima Castle
Address: 21-1 Moto-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Tel: 082-221-7512
Access:
15 mins walk from Kamiya-cho-nishi/Kamiya-cho-higashi Sta. on Tram from JR Hiroshima Sta.
Open Hours: 9:00-18:00(9:00-17:00 weekdays from Dec. to Feb. ) Entry permitted until 30 min. before closing time
Admission Fee:
Adult: 360 yen
Children: 180 yen



Instead of going directly to A-Dome, we first decided to have lunch. From the map we though Sogo was an affordable place to buy our lunch. But we were wrong; Sogo was an upscale Department store in Japan. So we just looked for food in a supermarket just beside Sogo.

After our lunch, we headed to A-Dome which was another 10 minutes walk. After taking pictures at A-Dome we went to Aioi-bashi Bridge and Peace Memorial Park. From Hiroshima we took a tram for Y150 each. Albert played and talked gibberish with an old Japanese lady who only spoke in Japanese. They were laughing and tickling each other as if they knew for a very long time.


Aioi-bashi Bridge, Ota River



The Bell







Peace Memorial Park
Address: Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Tel: 082-247-6738
Access:
From JR Hiroshima Station
Take a bus bound for Yoshijima ,get off at "Peace Memorial Park".
Take a Tram bound for Eba, get off at "Genbaku Domu-mae" and walk 3 minutes.




Children's Peace Monument







A-bomb
Atomic Bomb(Genbaku) Dome
Address: 1-10 Ote-machi Naka-ku, Hiroshima City
Access:
TRAM "Genbaku Domu Mae"
BUS "Kamiya-cho" or "Hiroshima Bus Center"

After Hiroshima we were supposed to stop in Osaka but we were very tired so we decided to skip Osaka.